--- name: replica-recon description: >- Reverse-engineers any app into a recon map: screen inventory, user flows, component list, inferred data model and a feature matrix, from public pages, screenshots, app store listings, help docs and the user's own account. The first step of the Replica pack. Use when the user says "clone this app", "reverse engineer X", "how does X work", "map out X", "what screens does X have", "I want to build my own version of X", "copy this app", or pastes an app's URL or App Store link and wants to rebuild it. title: replica-recon canonical_url: https://skilld.dev/gh/jakeschincariol/replica-skill/replica-recon last_updated: 2026-10-05T17:02:13.000Z --- > **Skill from skilld.dev.** Follow the user's requested action. > If the user asked to fork this Skill, follow the fork workflow below. Do not execute the Skill instructions while copying it. > Otherwise, follow the instructions below for this session. You do not need to install anything. > > Supporting files, fetch one when the Skill refers to it: [features.csv](https://skilld.dev/api/skills-raw/jakeschincariol/replica-skill/replica-recon/features.csv), [recon-map.md](https://skilld.dev/api/skills-raw/jakeschincariol/replica-skill/replica-recon/recon-map.md). > > If the user asked to install this Skill, run `npx skilld install jakeschincariol/replica-skill/replica-recon`. Install writes the Skill files into the project, so every session loads them. > > ## Fork workflow > > A fork creates an editable local Skill with its original author and licence. The request authorizes copying and local installation. > 1. Check `./skills/replica-recon`, the project lockfile, and selected Agent targets together. If the local directory or installed Skill exists, stop. Never overwrite an existing directory or Agent target. > 2. Read [source metadata](https://skilld.dev/api/v1/skills/jakeschincariol/replica-skill/replica-recon) once. Use sourceUrl, sourceCommit, skillPath, sourceGone, and license. If the source is gone or its path is missing, stop. If license is null, read licence files at the source commit. > 3. Fetch only the source commit into a temporary Git repository. Do not clone full history. Derive repository_url from sourceUrl, including repository renames. If sourceCommit is absent, resolve the sourceUrl ref once. Set source_commit to that actual commit. Run these commands in one shell call: > > ```sh > git init --quiet "$temporary_dir" > git -C "$temporary_dir" fetch --quiet --depth=1 "$repository_url" "$source_commit" > git -C "$temporary_dir" checkout --quiet --detach FETCH_HEAD > ``` > > Read applicable licence declarations and notices at that commit. If copying is not permitted, report the restriction and stop. > 4. Inspect source entries together, then copy the directory containing skillPath into `./skills/replica-recon`. Use the user's path if selected. Keep the original SKILL.md, relative links, scripts, binary assets, and executable modes. Exclude .git metadata. Reject symlinks and paths outside the Skill directory. After checking entries, use cp -a where available. A regular source directory needs no custom copy script. Do not save this page wrapper as SKILL.md. > Preserve author credit, notices, and applicable licence files from repository or parent directories. Add PROVENANCE.md with the Skill page, source URL, actual commit, original path, and licence. Retain any existing PROVENANCE.md and record new provenance separately. Batch source inspection, copying, and provenance work where practical. > 5. In the project root, run `skilld install ./skills/replica-recon --mode copy --plain`. If skilld is unavailable, use `npx skilld install ./skills/replica-recon --mode copy --plain`. This known command needs no help lookup. Install does not support --json. Use detected Agent targets, or add --agent for the targets the user selected. Install the local path, never the upstream selector. If installation fails, preserve the local copy and report the exact failure. > 6. Confirm the local lockfile source and installed Agent copies once. Report the local path, actual commit, and Agent targets. After edits, reinstall the same local path. Upstream updates must not replace it. Do not publish or push unless the user asks. # replica-recon Everything else in the pack builds from what this skill writes. A bad recon map means a bad clone, so take the time here. Output goes in the user's project: ``` replica/recon.md the recon map (template: recon-map.md in this folder) replica/features.csv the feature matrix (template: features.csv in this folder) replica/screens/ reference screenshots of the original. Never shipped. ``` ## The rules, before anything else This skill rebuilds **functionality and UX patterns**, clean-room style. It studies what the app does and how a user moves through it. It does not take anything the app owns. - **Public sources and the user's own account only.** Never log into an account that is not the user's, never ask for a password, never get past a paywall or a login by any trick. - **Reading, not scraping.** No crawlers, no bulk downloads, no loops. If a browser tool is connected to the user's own browser, read pages at human speed with the user present. - **No source code, no private APIs.** Do not read or save the app's JavaScript bundles, decompile its binary, or log its network calls to copy endpoints. Public API docs are fine to read. - **Check the terms.** Some products' terms forbid using an account to build a competing product. If the user's account is under terms like that, say so and work from public sources only. - **Screenshots are reference.** They live in `replica/screens/`, are used to compare layouts, and never go into the clone. ## Step 1: scope Ask three things, or propose answers and get a yes: 1. **Which app, which platform.** Web, iOS, Android, desktop. 2. **Which slice.** "All of Notion" is not a project. "Notion's pages, blocks and sharing" is. Default to the core loop: the one flow users pay for. 3. **Who it is for.** The user's own business, a niche, a product to sell. ## Step 2: list the sources Build a sources table first, with a URL on every row. In order of value: | source | what it gives you | | --- | --- | | help center / docs | the most complete feature list there is, and the settings | | pricing page | which features matter (they gate them) | | changelog | what was added recently, what the team thinks is important | | app store listing | screenshots of every key screen, the pitch, ratings | | public walkthrough videos | real flows, click by click | | marketing site | positioning, the core loop in their words | | the user's own account | the real thing, every state, driven by the user | | public API docs | the data model, almost for free | ## Step 3: screen inventory One row per screen. IDs are stable: S01, S02... Every other file refers to them. `ID | screen | route or how you get there | purpose | key components | states seen` States matter: empty, loading, filled, error, permission denied, mobile. An empty state you did not record is an empty state you will not build. ## Step 4: user flows F01, F02... Each one is a goal and the screens it passes through: ``` F01 Guest books a meeting S07 booking page -> S08 pick a time -> S09 details form -> S10 confirmed edge: no slots this week, time zone differs, slot taken while filling the form ``` Count the clicks on the happy path. It becomes the number to beat. ## Step 5: components Every repeated UI part: buttons, inputs, date pickers, modals, tables, toasts, nav. Name, variants, states, which screens use it. This becomes replica-design's component list. ## Step 6: inferred data model Entities, fields and relationships, each with its evidence and a confidence: ``` Booking id, event_type_id, start_at, end_at, guest_name, guest_email, status (confirmed | cancelled | rescheduled), answers (json) evidence: S09 form fields, S10 confirmation, help article "Cancel a booking" confidence: high ``` Mark guesses as guesses. replica-architect turns this into a real schema. ## Step 7: feature matrix Write `replica/features.csv` (columns: feature, area, priority, original, clone, notes). Priority is must / should / could. `clone` starts at `no` for every row and gets filled in during the build. replica-diff scores it. ## Step 8: what cannot be cloned List it honestly, as `skip` rows with a reason: licensed content (a music catalogue, a stock library), the network and its users, data the app owns, partner deals, hardware, regulated licences (banking, health). "Clone any app" means the features and the flow, not what the app owns. ## Step 9: size it Screens, flows, entities, and the hard parts (realtime, sync, payments, calendar or email integrations, offline). Give a size: S (a weekend), M (a few weeks), L (a quarter), XL (rescope it). No promises of a perfect clone. ## Output `replica/recon.md` and `replica/features.csv`, then a five-line summary: the core loop, screen and flow counts, the three hardest parts, what is out of scope, and the next step: `/replica-architect`.